MEXICO - A policy at Mexico Middle School helped staff find a gun in a student's backpack Wednesday.

Students at the school are not allowed to have backpacks on them during the school day and the backpacks must remain in their lockers, according to the school's policy.

Mexico Public Schools superintendent, Zach Templeton, said the eighth grade student was found wearing his backpack during the day and was told to put it away.

"Actually he did put it away," Templeton said. "Then they found it back on him a second time that was the reason we felt like maybe this student is trying to keep it close, and we probably need to look and see why."

Templeton said it wasn't just the school's backpack policy that helped discover the gun, but the relationships between teachers and students.

“Something just didn't seem right, and they acted on it," he said.

The superintendent sent a letter to parents to tell them about the situation.

Someone reported the gun as stolen in February, according to Major Brice Mesko of Mexico Public Safety Department.

Mesko said that the investigation to determine the student's intentions is ongoing.

"As of this time, there has been no indication found that the juvenile was planning on using the gun," said Maj. Mesko Wednesday.